


Human Error

by bangtanstanst



Category: Detroit: Become Human (Video Game), 방탄소년단 | Bangtan Boys | BTS
Genre: Alternate Universe - Police, Alternate Universe - Robots & Androids, Angst, Blood, Death, Detroit Become Human AU, F/M, Fluff, Guns, Hostage Situation
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-04-19
Updated: 2019-04-26
Packaged: 2020-01-16 15:44:58
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 2
Words: 8,888
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18524599
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/bangtanstanst/pseuds/bangtanstanst
Summary: Forced to work on yet another case alongside Kim Taehyung, the newest android prototype, you try to make the best of it. But when all the evidence points to an unusual suspect and brings up unusual questions, it seems even Taehyung can’t quite figure out what is really going on.





	1. Chapter 1

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hii, I hope you’re all doing well! I’m so excited to be sharing this fic with you guys, I’ve really really enjoyed writing it :) It’s based on this amazing game called detroit: become human, and some scenes in this fic are also inspired by what happens in the game (def go check out the game if you're interested!). This was originally meant to be just a one shot but it ran a bit long fjksds so I’ve decided to split it up into two parts; the second and last part to this will be up next week! I hope you enjoy this♥

“So I’m thinking time of death is around one AM.”

You nod, rising to your feet as you sigh, crossing your arms. The body at your feet is leaning against the broken white wall, sitting in a pool of fresh blood that stains the linoleum floor. The victim’s white shirt is torn where the knife went in – you can’t begin to count the number of stab wounds on his torso. You wince at the thought, hoping it was at least a quick death.

“Do we have any info on this guy yet?” you wonder, looking over to the coroner, who simply shakes her head.

“Couldn’t find an ID on him,” she says. “I haven’t had the chance to scan his prints yet, but I’ll do it as soon as possible.”

“Thanks, let me know what you find,” you reply, spinning around when Jiu nods and turns back to the body.

You quickly look around the small studio apartment, at the unmade bed, the dirty dishes stacked up high in the sink, the layer of dust that covers the single bookshelf on the wall. A chair is pushed over in the middle of the room, pieces of a broken plate scattered over the floor. Absently chewing on your bottom lip, you let your gaze glide over the floor, following the trail of blood from the chair to the victim’s eventual place of collapse, your eyebrows furrowing as you try to figure out how he might’ve died.

“His name is Park Donggeun.”

You jump a mile in the air, letting out a gasp and whirling around to face the man behind you. Rather, the _android_ standing there.

You scowl up at the pretty face looking down at you, the light brown hair that’s so impeccably in place, the uniform and tie that are straightened out perfectly even though it’s _three in the fucking morning._ Even worse, he’s smiling all too brightly at you – you wonder who the hell overlooked _that_ design flaw. “Did I ask?”

His smile falls, his face returning to a neutral expression. “Yes, you asked doctor Seung just now,” he replies right away, pointing to his right, where Jiu is working. She doesn’t hear him.

You roll your eyes, shaking your head. “Last time I checked, your name was still _Kim Taehyung, model RK800, serial number 804 572 174 dash 33_ ,” you say in a mockingly low voice. You know it’s a bad attempt at imitating him – but Taehyung has never commented. “So I didn’t ask _you_ , thanks,” you add, brushing past him to idly look around the mess of papers and folders on the victim’s coffee table.

“I understand you’re still mad about last week’s incident, but –”

“Oh, fuck off,” you snarl, spinning around once more. “That wasn’t just an incident, Kim, you made my suspect clam up and he didn’t speak for another three days.”

A short silence. The circular LED embedded into Taehyung’s right temple swirls yellow as he processes your words – he’s confused.

“Three days! You know how much time I could’ve spent on other cases if you hadn’t fucked up?!” you exclaim, holding up three fingers for emphasis. No one looks up at your outburst and Taehyung doesn’t move, keeping his hands folded behind his back. “I’m surprised the captain even let you back into the field,” you mutter as you turn around once more, reaching out with your latex-gloved hand to look underneath a pile of paperwork covered in brown coffee stains, a grin curling at your lips. _A phone._

“It was a mistake in my calibration,” Taehyung replies calmly, his deep voice rumbling through the room. “I assessed his stress levels incorrectly and I really am sorry for that. We updated my software and I should now be able to –”

“I don’t need to know,” you cut him off – _androids can’t really feel sorry, anyway_. As he falls silent, you pick up the phone. It’s covered in the coffee that’s been spilled on it and it sticks to your glove as you try to press the keys. “Here, analyse this,” you say, holding it out to him. “Don’t ruin it this time, yeah?”

“Don’t you want to know more about the victim?” he asks, taking the phone out of your hand.

You heave a sigh, eyes fluttering closed as you put the back of your hand to your forehead. _You have a great job, you’re doing meaningful work, this is what you want to do_. The words have become a mantra these days, especially after the captain agreed to this ‘experiment’ of having one _lucky_ officer work with an android on some of the tougher cases, now that the technology is available. “Fine, spill it.”

“He’s twenty-six years old, born and raised in the city, and he just graduated law school. He works two part-time jobs and has been interning at a firm called Baker & McKenzie for four and a half months.”

“So he was gonna be a lawyer?” you ask, turning to face Taehyung.

It takes him a second to reply – his LED flickers as he accesses the phone in his hand, processes the information on there. “Yes,” he says finally, handing it back to you.

You look down at the device, still sticky with coffee, then back up at him. “So? Anything interesting?”

He pauses, tilting his head. His LED swirls the standard soothing blue colour. “I thought you didn’t want to know.”

Your lips twitch with the beginnings of a smile, though you manage to suppress it. “Don’t push it, Kim.”

You can spot a small smile teased across his lips as he nods, leaning forward to press the home button and access the phone with the password he’s retrieved. “Look at the conversation with his girlfriend.”

With a frown, you swipe around until you end up at the only text conversation that hasn’t been deleted. “ _I can’t stop thinking about you_ ,” you read aloud, eyebrows shooting up as you scroll through the texts, going back and forth between the victim and his supposed girlfriend – though, from the messages, you’d guess they were exes. “ _Please come to my place_ – maybe she was the last person to see him.”

“Right,” Taehyung says with a nod. “We should start by interrogating her, she could –”

“Oh, no, thank you,” you say with a scoff, slipping the phone into a see-through evidence bag. “You can stay on the sidelines during the interrogations for now.”

Taehyung opens his mouth, but he closes it before he says anything, simply nodding. His LED is glowing bright yellow but you ignore the sign of distress, simply sending him a sarcastic smile as you put the phone onto Jiu’s bag.

“Detective!” a CSU calls from the other side of the room, grabbing your attention.

You walk over to the officer, who is pointing a UV flashlight at the kitchen counter. It lights up like a Christmas tree, blue splatters coating the entire surface, and you scowl at the sight. “Do I wanna know what this is?”

Taehyung steps forward and looks at the splatters, his LED blinking for a moment. The officer directs her flashlight at the floor, where the same blue dots the linoleum in a path that leads towards the doorway, out into the hallway and probably right back outside. “Thirium,” Taehyung then concludes. _Android blood._ “It’s from an AK700 model, serial number 507 629 301.”

You turn to look at him, frowning. “You’re saying he might’ve fought with an android here?” Taehyung’s eyes are darting around the studio apartment as if everything is new to him, as if he has to scan everything for a second time and do it as fast as possible before he’s interrupted. “That can’t be – androids can’t fight.”

Taehyung looks back at you, nodding slowly. His LED is glowing bright red and your frown deepens when you notice it.

“Are you okay?” you ask slowly, forgetting the officer that’s standing right behind you, probably questioning why you’re concerned about an _android_.

He pauses for a moment, staring at you, then nods. His LED returns to a soft blue glow once more. “If an android really was here, it could be more than just a lover’s spat.”

You hum and nod. You’re still wary, but Taehyung seems to have composed himself and so you move on for now – you’ll ask him again later. “We should interrogate the ex-girlfriend anyway, see if she had something to do with it.”

Taehyung blinks, eyebrows raised, and you realise you’re the one who said _we_ this time.

Clearing your throat, you ignore it and look back at the room. “Anyway, I think CSU’s got it here. We should get back to the station, pull up security cam footage to see where that android went.”

He nods, following you towards the door, stepping through the blue hologram of police tape that sections off Park’s apartment, back into the dingy hallway. “Shouldn’t you rest first?” he asks, looking aside at you as you quickly make your way down the stairs. “The call must’ve woken you up before you could get enough sleep.”

You’re about to shake your head, but now that he mentions it… you’re starting to feel fatigued, your body growing weaker as you thunder down the steps. “I’ll take a nap somewhere.”

“I’ll drive, then,” he proposes as you arrive at the lobby. A small crowd of bystanders has formed right outside, held back by two uniformed androids – but that certainly doesn’t stop them from trying to peer through the glass doors. “It’s thirty minutes back to the station, optimal for power naps.”

You snort, pushing the door open and slipping through the crowd, back to your car, which is parked across the street. The night is dark and wet, raindrops softly pattering onto the pavement. It’s cold, too, and you shiver, regretting not having taken your coat out of the car. “Humans don’t really fall asleep right away, Taehyung. I’ll need more than thirty minutes.”

He nods, walking over to the driver’s side. You toss him the car keys after you’ve unlocked it, slipping inside. “I know,” he says, sitting down in the driver’s seat and sticking the key in the ignition. “But I also know how to take detours.”

You cross your arms and shiver, the car cold now that the heating hasn’t been on for a while. At moments like these, you do feel incredibly tempted to get one of those newer, self-driving ones, those that are so well-isolated it always feels like you’re entering a warm and welcoming living room. “I thought androids were all about efficiency.”

Taehyung leans over to the back seat, picks something up from there. “Efficiency doesn’t always mean taking the fastest route,” he replies, holding up your long, black coat for you.

Your eyes flicker to the garment and you take it from him, smiling thankfully as you slip it on. _Better_. “That just sounds contradictory.”

“Just take a nap. It’s more efficient if you fall asleep as soon as possible,” he tells you as he adjusts the rearview mirror.

With a small smile and a shake of your head, you click your seatbelt into place and slouch in your seat, head lolling over to the side. “You know, I gotta say, Taehyung,” you start, eyes fluttering closed as the engine jumps to life, a soft hum filling your ears. “I’ve missed you.”

It’s silent for a moment. The engine still hums, you keep your eyes closed. “I’m glad to be able to assist you again.”

You smile, letting out a sigh and relaxing as Taehyung turns out of the parking spot. You know you wanted to stay mad at him a little longer, just to spite him. He did really almost ruin your case, after all.

But you just can’t help it.

 

-:-:-:-

 

When you wake up again, rain is still pitter-pattering on the tin the roof of your car – but there’s sunlight hitting your face. Confused for a moment, you squint, slowly opening your eyes more and more until you realise where you are – your car, in the passenger’s seat, with the belt unbuckled and your coat draped over you, all in bright daylight. Your mouth feels dry and your mind hazy, and you rub your eyes as you sit up, your coat sliding off of you into your lap.

“Good morning, detective,” says a low voice from beside you, and a to-go cup of coffee comes into sight, alongside a plain sesame bagel.

You frown, looking to your left to see Taehyung sitting at the wheel. “What?” is all you get out. You clear your throat when you notice you sound raspy. “What time is it?”

“It’s seven AM,” Taehyung replies, still holding the food and drink out to you.

Your eyes widen and your lips part as you look between him and the coffee in his hand. “Excuse me, what?” you breathe, raising your eyebrows at him.

“It seemed like you needed the rest,” Taehyung replies matter-of-factly, tilting his head when your eyebrows shoot further up. “I just thought it might help you if you’d had enough sleep.”

You’re about to tell him off for it, but you realise that arguing with him on this would simply be a waste of energy. So you just snatch your apparent breakfast out of his hands and let out a sigh. “Whatever,” you mutter, biting into your bagel so you can grab your coat and get out of the passenger’s seat, trying to comb your hair with your fingers as best as you can.

Taehyung locks the car and joins you as you speed walk up to the station, bending your head to avoid getting rain in your eyes. “You could’ve just dropped me off at home, if you really wanted me to sleep more,” you tell him, taking the bagel out of your mouth and chewing on the first bite. It’s dry, but doable.

A short silence falls and Taehyung glances at you as you push open the large, glass doors. Even though it’s early in the morning, the station is already teeming with people, and chatter fills your ears as you make your way to your department, passing police officers, criminals, and disgruntled citizens, androids walking around among them. “I figured you wouldn’t want to lose more time than absolutely necessary, travelling from your house to the station.”

With a snort, you take a sip from the coffee, feeling your mind is already starting to clear up. “You’d be correct in that assumption,” you reply, weaving between the desks of your colleagues to get to your own, quickly scarfing down your bagel. “But if you’re doing what you want anyway, might as well go all-in, right?”

Taehyung opens his mouth to say something, but seems to decide against it and simply folds his hands behind his back as you drape your coat over the back of your chair and take a seat. When he remains at your side instead of walking to his own desk, you frown, looking up at him. “Something wrong, Kim?”

He quickly shakes his head. “I pulled up the security camera footage from the apartment building, of the night of the murder,” he reports, remaining rooted to the spot.

“Did you find anything?” you ask, perking up in interest.

When Taehyung nods, you feel yourself smile, growing hopeful. “I confirmed it’s the model I identified from the blue blood last night,” he replies. “It went in around twelve thirty and ran back out after the victim died.”

“So we were right, it’s more than just a lover’s spat,” you think aloud, turning to your computer to open a new case file. “We should find out who owns –”

“It might still have something to do with the ex,” Taehyung interjects. Your gaze snaps up from the monitor and you raise your eyebrows. “She’s the one who owns the android.”

“Oh, Jesus, why didn’t you just say so? Where does she live?” You’re already getting up and grabbing your coat from the back of your chair, taking a last sip of your coffee.

“Actually,” Taehyung begins slowly, “She’s in interrogation room one right now. They picked her up a few minutes ago.”

You nod slowly, silence falling between the two of you for a moment as you stare at him. The look he gives you is expressionless, his LED emitting its standard blue glow. “Thanks,” you say softly, clearing your throat and quickly looking away as you drape your coat over your chair once more.

He simply nods back, sending you a smile.

Taking a breath, you straighten back up and brush past him, heading to the interrogation room. “Anything else?” you ask him, throwing back the last of your coffee and tossing the cup into the trash can.

Taehyung has swiped a tablet from his desk and hands it to you. Once the screen jumps to life, you’re met with a picture of a woman. Her long back hair frames her face and she’s softly smiling into the camera, subtle wrinkles showing at the corners of her lips. “Her name is Lee Hyejin,” he tells you as you scroll down to read her personal information. “Twenty-four. She lives uptown and works for CyberLife as an AI engineer. From her social media, it seems she’s been dating Park for almost two years.”

You hum, turning a corner and seeing the doors to the interrogation rooms at the end of the corridor. Your footsteps echo off the floor and walls, mixing in with the chatter in the background. “So she could’ve just been messing with her android to get it to fight, as an experiment,” you say absently, scrolling through more of Lee’s file to absorb as much information as you can before you go in.

Taehyung pauses for so long that you look aside to check if he’s still with you, though he speaks up only a second later, “It could be the case, yes.” You notice his LED swirls yellow for a split second before it returns to blue. “But we’re probably better off not speculating before the interrogation starts.”

You send him a grin, shrugging. “See, now that’s where you’re wrong. Half of being a detective is speculating.”

He blinks, smiles. “I don’t think those numbers add up.”

“Then redo your calculations!” you jokingly shoot back as you stop at the door to the interrogation room. “In any case, I’m taking the lead on this one, so just don’t do anything to mess up my flow, okay? I don’t want a repeat of last time.”

He nods firmly. “Got it.”

You stare at him for one second longer. The smile he sends you is so innocent that it almost makes you suspicious, but soon enough, you decide to let it go and you grip the doorknob of interrogation room one. It swings open and you step inside, leaving Taehyung to enter after you.

“Miss Lee?”

When the woman sitting at the interrogation table looks up, you hesitate, taken aback. Her cheeks are stained with tears, dark streaks of dried mascara sticking to her skin. Her hair is messy, her nails freshly gnawed at. “Yes?” she croaks in reply, sitting up.

“I’m sure you heard the news about mister Park,” you say slowly, sinking into the cold, metal seat across from her and putting the tablet on the table, the screen dark as you fold your hands over it.

She slowly nods, her bottom lip trembling as she looks away.

“I was wondering if I could ask you a few questions about him,” you say gently, trying to make eye contact with the woman, though she’s making it pretty damn difficult for you.

“I’m here anyway,” she mutters, her glazed eyes fixed on the metal table.

You pause for a moment until she seems to finally look at you, even just from underneath her eyelashes. “You were dating him, right?” you ask, leaning forward.

She slowly nods, sniffing. “Yeah,” she says softly, wiping her cheeks dry and smudging around her mascara even more. “Would’ve been two years next week.”

“It must’ve been tough, hearing what happened last night.”

Lee takes in a shaky breath, then slowly pushes it back out. “Yeah.”

You let a short silence fall. Lee studies the wet sleeve of her sweater, fumbling with the fabric. “When was the last time you saw him?” you ask softly, tilting your head. The way she’s acting has you wondering whether she really is guilty here.

“I –” She lets out a sigh, her eyes downcast. “It was a while ago. Two weeks, I think.” Her voice is soft and low, and you swear you can hear it tremble.

You frown. “Why?”

She lets out a long sigh, resting her elbows on the table and holding her head in her hands. She shakes it back and forth, her dark hair swaying from side to side. “It was stupid,” she says through a sigh, looking up at you. Her hands drop into her lap. “We were fighting and we decided to take a break for a while, just to clear our heads.”

“And why did you text him last night?”

Her eyes fluttering closed, she heaves a sigh and shakes her head once more. “Again, stupid,” she mutters. “I’d been missing him for a while and I’d had one too many glasses of wine, so I just… sent him a text, hoping he felt the same way.”

“Is that why you sent your android to his place?” Taehyung suddenly interjects, stepping forward. Surprised, you look up at him, raising an eyebrow, but he doesn’t spare you a glance – he just stares at Lee, his eyebrows furrowed, jaw set. “You missed him, he didn’t miss you – is that why you ordered it to kill him?”

She freezes, looking up at him with wide eyes. You can see her bottom lip is starting to tremble again. “What? No, of course not!” she shoots back, her voice shrill. Your first instinct is to cut Taehyung off, though you quickly realise what he’s trying to do. “Why the hell would I kill someone I love?”

You reach up to put a hand on his arm, deciding to play along. “Taehyung –”

“Because you were drunk and angry,” he pushes instead, crossing his arms. His gaze is unforgiving, even if your suspect seems to be on the verge of bursting out into tears. “You might not even remember it, for that matter. Rest assured we’ll find out one way or another, but you –”

“I didn’t tell my goddamn android to kill him!” she snaps. Her face is flushing red and there are tears rolling down her cheeks, dripping onto the table. “I just– he wasn’t answering my texts and he usually always sends _something_ , so I wanted to check on him but I didn’t want to be _that_ crazy bitch, you know? Just in case he was actually ignoring me.” She sighs, wiping her cheeks with her soaked sleeves once more. “So yes, I sent Hyeonju to check on him.”

Silence.

She looks up at Taehyung for a split second, squirming in her seat, then quickly averting her eyes to you. “Did it– was he really killed by my android?

“What, you’re starting to regret it now?” Taehyung scoffs, shaking his head. Lee sniffs, looking down at her fidgeting hands. “Are we really supposed to –”

“Taehyung, that’s enough,” you interrupt, looking up at him. His eyes snap over to yours, lips parted as he prepares himself to continue. He falls silent when you subtly shake your head, however, and he steps back. “Miss Lee, do you know where we might be able to find your android?” you ask, turning back to her. “We’d like to access its memory to see what happened.”

She clears her throat, slowly shaking her head. “He hasn’t been back since I sent him out last night,” she mumbles, glancing at Taehyung as he steps off to the side, leaning against the grey wall. “I don’t know where he might’ve gone.”

“You don’t have any way to track it?”

She slowly shakes her head, eyes flickering to Taehyung once again. Sitting up, she clears her throat. “His model does have a tracker, though, I think. CyberLife can probably find it.”

“Great, thank you,” you say with a nod, getting up from your chair. “We’ll be in contact.”

She wipes away the fresh tears rolling down her cheeks, nodding absently. You notice she looks up at Taehyung from underneath her eyelashes yet again, tensing up when he pushes himself off the wall and walks to the exit without saying another word.

“Sorry for your loss, miss Lee,” you say, taking the tablet off the table. “An officer will take you back home. If you’ve got any questions, please don’t hesitate to call,” you add, pulling a business card out of your back pocket. It’s crumpled, but Lee doesn’t comment, simply taking it with both her hands and nodding.

As silence falls once more, you turn around and walk away, slipping past Taehyung, who is holding the door open for you. It soon slams closed and you start to head back to your desk – Taehyung seems to have returned to normal, expression back to the kind, neutral look you’ve grown accustomed to.

“So? Was she telling the truth?” you ask, glancing aside at him as you turn the corner, walking past the open office spaces of some other departments.

His eyebrows furrow. “I think so,” he replies, looking straight ahead. “Her vitals did seem to show that she was nervous, but that’s normal for the pressure I put on her.”

You hum thoughtfully, puckering up your lips as you think. “Then why did her android kill Park?”

Taehyung falls silent. His LED is flickering bright yellow and it stays that way even when you stop at your desks and sit down in your respective chairs. “I’m not sure,” he says finally, sighing as he shakes his head. “AK700 models aren’t even designed to fight, let alone kill – as in, their software specifically prevents them from doing it.”

“But you just said Lee was telling the truth. She didn’t override its system,” you return with a frown. Crossing your arms, you lean back in your chair, looking at him through the glass monitors that divide your desks.

Taehyung nods slowly. “Exactly,” he replies, looking at his monitor so that his LED is invisible to you. “That’s what I can’t understand. If this android wasn’t modified to fight, there must’ve been some sort of error that allowed it to do so,” he says, blinking at the screen in front of him. In the background, a phone rings loudly, and someone quickly picks it up to let the low hum of chatter take over the room once more. “But it couldn’t have come out of nowhere, CyberLife’s software is too developed for that by now. Something incredibly strong must’ve overridden all existing protocols.”

“Right,” you say with a nod, turning to your computer and opening up the case file you started just before you talked to Lee. “So, android breaks through its programming to fight human. The question still is, how and why?”

“Self-defense,” Taehyung blurts out, lifting his wide eyes to look at you.

Your eyebrows furrow and you narrow your eyes at the monitor as you type. “To protect itself from being damaged or something?”

“Could be,” he replies, nodding as he frowns. His gaze drops down to his desk. “But– well, usually, self-defense only happens when people feel like they’re in danger, when they’re afraid of injury, or death. And even so, continuing to stab someone in the chest long after they’re sure to be dead is…” He shakes his head, frown deepening. “It’s got all the signs of an impulse crime. Purely emotional.”

Turning away from the monitor, you lean towards him, resting your chin on your fist. “So what you’re saying is...”

He looks up. “The android must’ve been scared.”

Your frown deepens and you tilt your head. “Androids don’t get scared, though,” you reply, sitting back once more. “They’re androids.”

A pause. Taehyung blinks, his LED flickers yellow. “Exactly.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you so much for reading, I hope you liked it!! Let me know what you thought and what you’re thinking might happen in part 2, I’d absolutely love to hear from you :) I hope you have a great day/night wherever you are!♥


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hiii, I hope you’ve a great week! Here’s the second part to the android fic, I really really hope you like it (and thank you so much for the feedback & interaction on part 1!! I really appreciate it♥) :)

 

“So what you’re saying is,” your captain starts slowly, folding her hands in front of her. It’s been hours since you interrogated Lee and you’re sitting in your captain’s office to report on the case developments so far – which have been frustrating, to say the least. “You think there’s a killer android on the loose and you have no idea how to track it down?”

You let out a breath, nodding slowly. “Yeah,” you reply, clearing your throat.

Chaewon purses her lips, leaning back in her chair. “And there really is no way of reactivating the tracker?”

“Not from afar, no,” Taehyung replies. He’s standing next to you, right behind the chair Chaewon offered him before he refused to sit down. “It has to be done physically.”

Your captain rubs her face, heaving a sigh. “Alright, then what’s your plan of attack?” she asks finally, looking between the two of you.

“CyberLife has agreed to let us know right away if the tracker somehow reactivates. We’ve put out a BOLO for the android, and we’ve stationed two officers outside of Lee’s apartment building in case it returns to its home base,” you report, straightening your back. “For the rest, we’re trying to keep the public in the dark to prevent people from panicking.”

Chaewon nods slowly. “Okay, good. Then it’s just a waiting game now, I guess,” she concludes, swivelling her chair around to snatch a folder from behind her, then plopping it down on her desk and flipping it open. “You’re dismissed. Let me know when there are any developments.”

“Will do, captain,” you say with a nod, rising from your chair and quickly heading out of her office. Taehyung is right in tow as you walk back to your desk, your footsteps echoing through the open office space along with the typing of keyboards, phones ringing, the chatter in the background.

You sit down at your desk and lean back with a heavy sigh, your monitor screens jumping on once they register your movements. Another case on the unsolved pile, and there’s pretty much nothing you can do about it except wait – wait for the android to show up on your radar, wait for the tracker to magically reactivate, or simply wait for the case to solve itself. All _great_ options.

You let out another sigh. “Taehyung,” you start, glancing at him through the glass screens that separate your desks.

He looks up from his monitor, eyebrows raised. “Detective.”

“How is it that androids can just deactivate their tracker?” you ask, leaning forward with your forearms pressing to the desk. “Isn’t there some sort of code that prevents you from doing it? Like with fighting?”

“There should be,” Taehyung replies with a nod, taking his hands off the keyboard to fold them in front of him, like Chaewon did just minutes before. “But, like with fighting, there might have been an issue with this android’s software that enabled it to ignore those commands.”

“So you just know where your tracker is?” you inquire, tilting your head. “Like, 100 percent sure?”

He nods once more. “Yes.”

“And you have no secret backup tracker or something? Absolutely none?”

An amused smile tugs at Taehyung’s lips as he tilts his head. “I don’t know why you’d be asking _me_ if it’s supposed to be so secret, but it’s very unlikely. All androids know how they’re built to the smallest detail, just in case we ever need to fix any of our components.”

You hum thoughtfully, furrowing your eyebrows as you stare at him. Taehyung looks right back at you, his expression neutral yet expectant, LED glowing a soft blue. “So, then, if you can fix everything on your own, why did you have to go to CyberLife for recalibration?”

He pauses for a moment before he opens his mouth, probably about to lecture you on the differences between software and hardware – but he’s interrupted by the shrill sound of your phone going off. You glance down at it and raise an eyebrow – “It’s an unknown number,” you mutter, tilting your head. Taehyung nods, seals his lips, and turns back to his desktop.

With a last glance at him, you sigh and accept the call, putting the phone to your ear. “Yes?”

 _“Detective,”_ a voice breathes, high-pitched and squeaky.

It’s only vaguely familiar, and it takes you a second to realise who is on the other line. Once you do, however, your eyebrows shoot up and you sit up in your chair. “Miss Lee?”

From the corner of your eye, you see Taehyung look up from his monitor.

When there’s just a sniff at the other end of the line, you frown, exchanging glances with Taehyung – you’re sure he’s listening, too. “Can I help you with anything?”

 _“My– my android,”_ Lee sniffs. There’s a voice in the background, though it’s too far away for you to understand any of the words it’s saying. _“He’s back,”_ she adds in a whisper, her voice trembling. _“I think he has a gun.”_

As soon as you hear the words, your eyes widen and you jump up from your chair, pulling your coat from the back of it. “Where are you right now?”

 _“I’m at home,”_ she replies breathlessly. Taehyung is out of his chair already, moving over to your side and swiftly catching your coat when you throw it to him, fishing your car keys out of the pocket as you keep walking. _“I live at –”_

 _“Hey!”_ the voice shouts. Lee whimpers, sniffs. _“Who the hell are you talking to?!”_

_“No one! No one, I –”_

The line cuts out.

You curse underneath your breath, pacing towards the exit. “I know where she lives,” Taehyung reassures you as you walk down the corridor, slipping past a group of officers returning from lunch. “I can drive us there.”

“Not what I’m worried about here, Taehyung,” you mutter in reply, pushing open the doors and practically sprinting to your car. You slip into the passenger’s seat, taking your phone out of your pocket to call for backup as Taehyung sits down next to you and starts the engine, driving off.

You can only hope you get there in time.

 

-:-:-:-

 

The car comes to a screeching halt in the middle of the road, right in front of Lee’s apartment building. You jump out as soon as you can manage, snatching your gun off the dashboard and slamming the car door closed, running up to the entrance. The two android officers you stationed outside of the building are nowhere to be found – the car you allocated them seems to be gone, too.

The entrance is locked, and the door doesn’t budge when you pull. “God dammit,” you mutter, taking a step back and looking up at the building. Your view is blocked by the balconies right above you and you’ll have to cross the street in an attempt to look inside, much too far away to really see anything up there.

Suddenly, a loud _bang_ echoes through the street, followed by a scream – _Lee_. You curse once more, hand tightening around your gun and aiming it at the glass door.

Taehyung puts a hand on your arm, pushing it back down, and steps forward to look at the door. His eyes quickly move to the keypad right next to it and he breaks open its panel, starting to mess with it while you’re just left to stand there, feeling absolutely useless. Your heart is pounding, your breathing shallow, and you’re chewing on the inside of your cheek as you glance up at the building once more – there are no other sounds to alarm you, and you can only hope that it’s a good sign.

Your head snaps back to look at Taehyung when you hear a reassuring beep and the door jumps open, allowing you to run inside and sprint up the stairs. “Which apartment?” you breathe, glancing over your shoulder at Taehyung. In the background, you hear the sirens of your backup arriving, cops shouting as they jump out of their cars.

“414,” he replies, keeping up with you quite easily as you dash up the stairs, taking two steps at a time. With a nod, you focus on the signs indicating the floors – two, three, _four_.

Heart beating out of your chest, you run down the corridor, head snapping from one door to another to check the numbers written on them, stopping at Lee’s apartment, where the door is cracked open. You hear whimpers travelling outside, a low voice frantically trying to silence it.

“Please, Hyeonju, just –”

“Shut up,” the android hisses. “Shut _up_.”

You look over your shoulder at Taehyung, whose LED is flickering blue, his eyes fixed on Lee’s front door. “Stay back,” he whispers, slowly stepping towards the apartment.

Your eyebrows furrow as he brushes past you. “Wait, Taehyung, what are you –”

The rest of your sentence goes lost when he slips inside and there’s a gasp – “Who the hell are you?!” shouts Hyeonju. You swear you can hear a tremble in his voice, but you dismiss the thought. “Stay back!”

Pursing your lips, you step closer to the door but keep yourself pressed against the wall, your gun pointed at the floor. _Why did he have to go in alone, dammit?_

“Hi, Hyeonju,” Taehyung says calmly. You hear the floor creak as he steps closer and you squeeze your eyes shut, head falling back against the wall. Your shoulders are heaving and your breaths are heavy, heart pounding out of your chest as you listen to what’s happening inside. “My name is Taehyung.”

“How– how do you know my name?” Hyeonju shoots back. A gun clicks and it takes you almost all of your restraint to keep yourself from kicking in the door and backing up Taehyung in there. You look through the crack between the door and the doorframe, though all you can see is a cream-coloured wall, dark coats hanging off a peg next to the door. “I said stay back!”

“I know a lot of things about you,” Taehyung simply replies, talking slowly, calmly. The floor creaks with his footsteps, and there’s a sudden yelp drawn from Lee’s lips. Your hand tightens around your gun and you inch closer to the door, trying to look further into Lee’s apartment – it doesn’t work. “I’m here to help you, Hyeonju.”

“ _Help_ me? You’re a cop, for fuck’s sake,” Hyeonju snaps, his voice sharp but hoarse. “You’re supposed to be deactivating me right about now.”

“I’m on your side, Hyeonju,” Taehyung insists. He takes a few more steps, Lee whimpers. “I promise you, nothing bad will happen as long as I’m with you.”

There’s a creak at the end of the hallway and your head snaps in its direction, eyes widening when you see a small group of armed officers heading towards you, their boots looking much too heavy to not make a sound walking on these floors. You frantically wave your free hand to try to make them slow down, keep them as silent as possible – and to your relief, they nod in acknowledgement, slowing their pace.

“I know you killed Park Donggeun,” Taehyung continues.

“I–” Hyeonju croaks, a short silence falls. The tremble you swore you heard before is back, and it seems to be even stronger now. You glance at the officers, who are slowly but surely creeping down the hallway, guns ready to fire. “I didn’t mean to do it,” he says finally. “I was just defending myself, he– he was gonna kill me. I couldn’t let him kill me.”

“I understand, Hyeonju,” Taehyung says slowly. “You were scared and you didn’t see a way out, so you did what you had to do.”

“Exactly!” shouts Hyeonju in reply, though he clears his throat, softly repeating, “Exactly.”

“I would do the same thing in your situation.” There’s a pause. The officers gather around the doorway alongside you, forming a half circle around you, and they point their guns at the apartment. Breathing slowly, you step out of their way and look down at your feet, listening to Taehyung – he seems to be doing well, thankfully. “But hurting Hyejin isn’t the solution,” he adds, his voice soft. “You know that, don’t you?”

Another beat of silence. “I– I don’t want to hurt her. Please, I just want to get out of this alive,” Hyeonju begs. Your eyebrows furrow – if you hadn’t known that he’s an android, you’d almost think he really was terrified. “I don’t want them to deactivate me and take me apart.”

“Then let her go, Hyeonju.” As if on cue, Lee whimpers. “Let her go and we’ll talk. I can put in a good word for you, I’ll make sure you won’t get hurt.”

Your heart is pounding as silence falls and you exchange glances with your colleagues, all clamouring to hear Hyeonju’s answer. “How do I know I can trust you?”

“I’m an android too, Hyeonju. Just like you. See?” sounds the reply. A short silence follows once more and you’re growing hopeful. You glance at the door once more, letting out a slow breath. _Come on, Taehyung._ “I know you’re scared right now – but those feelings are just errors in your software. I can help you fix it. I can help you get back to normal.”

“No!” Hyeonju shouts harshly. You tense up in reply, though you hold up your hand to stop the officers from bursting in. “No, I don’t need to be fixed. There’s nothing wrong with me.”

You can’t stand not being able to see what’s happening inside. All you hear are voices and whimpers, footsteps – all you see is a door, a wall, a set of coats. But no matter how much you want to throw open the door and run inside to help, you stay put. You have to trust that Taehyung can handle it.

“Okay, that’s okay. You don’t need to do anything you don’t want to do. Just trust me, Hyeonju, I’ll get you out of this if you let Hyejin go.”

A long silence. You hold your breath, raising your gun to aim it at the door, getting ready for a surprise – but that surprise doesn’t come.

“Okay.” Your eyes widen, lips parting, and you let out a long sigh of relief, gun dropping back to your side. “Okay, I trust you.”

A second later, you hear footsteps dash towards the door and Lee emerges, gasping in surprise when she sees the officers surrounding her, their guns now pointed at the floor. You step forward and gesture for her to walk towards you, and she does.

“Just go downstairs and go to one of my colleagues there for help, okay?” you whisper, knowing there will be one or two officers staying behind to secure the area. She nods frantically, her shoulders shaking as she sobs as silently as she can, her face stained with tears like this morning. The poor woman. “You’re safe now,” you add, putting a hand on her shoulder.

Lee nods once more, eyes flickering to the door before you smile in encouragement, letting her turn around and run off into safety. You watch her for one second longer, making sure she gets out of the hallway okay, and she turns around the corner to head down the stairs when –

A deafening flurry of gunshots rings in your ears and you whirl around, seeing your colleagues rushing inside, shouting at Hyeonju, at each other. Wide-eyed, you let out a breath and you rush inside, coming to a stop in the doorway.

Lee’s apartment is a shot-up mess, bullet holes decorating the walls, a cracked picture frame hanging askew, barely holding onto the wall – but that is by far not the worst thing to see, and you tense up when your eyes finally fall on Hyejin’s android.

He’s standing upright but frozen, his gun still in his hand. Bright blue thirium drips from several gaping bullet wounds across his chest and head, and his eyes are wide open, lips parted – the expression on his face looks nothing short of terrified. A moment of dead silence falls as you stare at Hyeonju, officers swarming around him to pull his empty shell out of the apartment.

Taehyung stands in the middle of the living room, looking just as frozen as he stares at the pool of thirium on the floor. You take a few steps towards him, crossing your arms as you warily glance at him. “You did well, Taehyung,” is all you say, hoping it’ll wake him from his trance.

His head snaps up to look aside at you. His eyebrows are furrowed, LED flickering yellow, but he just nods, turning back to look at the pool of thirium. “We should notify the captain about this,” he says, tearing his eyes away from the blue blood, turning around and walking away.

You frown when you spot the icy expression he’s wearing, empty and emotionless. Rushing to keep up with him, you quickly follow him back down the corridor, towards the stairwell. “Hey, Taehyung, you okay?” you ask with a deepening frown.

He doesn’t reply.

 

-:-:-:-

 

The night is pitch black when you finally return home, your eyes drooping as you fumble with your keys to unlock the door. Rain is falling down from the skies like it was this morning and your hair is dripping wet, your coat completely soaked. You don’t really pay it much attention, however, and you just walk inside without another thought, switching on the lights, slipping off your shoes and walking to the kitchen table, where you hang your coat over the back of a chair to dry. Walking over to the sink, you squeeze out your hair over it, the rainwater loudly dripping down into the basin. Rain is continuously hammering against the windows, a flash of lightning penetrating the curtains before its thundering sound booms in your ears.

With a sigh, you start to pad over to your bedroom to slip into a pair of warm, dry pyjamas – but before you actually get the chance to do so, the doorbell rings.

You frown, turning and walking over to your front door, staring at it for a moment. The bell rings again, twice as long this time, and you take another step forward to look through the peephole. Your frown only deepens when you see who it is and you quickly unlock the door, pulling it open.

“Taehyung?”

“Y/N,” he breathes. His hair is wet, matted to his forehead and temple, but the bright glow of his LED shines right through – and it’s flickering red. The way he looks at you is frantic, and you stare back at him, rendered speechless. Another burst of thunder booms through the dark night sky.

“What are you– are you okay?” you stammer, distracted by the ever-flickering light on his temple, distracted by the fact that he called you by your name – no ‘detective’, not your last name. _Y/N._ “Is there something wrong?”

His mouth opens and closes, his eyebrows furrowed. “I– I don’t know,” he mutters in reply, eyes staring into nothingness before he quickly fixes his gaze on you once more. “I’m sorry, I hope I’m not disturbing you.”

You quickly shake your head. “It’s okay.” The way he’s acting has you nervous – it feels like he might as well be shutting down at any moment. “You should come inside, sit down somewhere.”

He’s told you many times over that sitting down feels exactly the same as standing up to an android, but there’s none of that this time. He just nods slowly, waits for you to step aside, then enters your apartment.

It’s silent as you lock the door once more and you follow him into the living room, where you cautiously sit down on the couch. Rain keeps battering your windows, an almost static-like sound filling your ears, only interrupted by the occasional shot of thunder. Your soft living room lights make the water in Taehyung’s hair glint as it slowly drips onto his clothes, and he stares at the raindrops as they dissolve into the fabric.

“Do you need a towel?” you ask softly, breaking the silence.

He slowly shakes his head, finally looking up at you again, just _looking_ , as if he’s searching your face for something that he just cannot find.

When he still doesn’t say anything, you furrow your eyebrows, tilting your head. “You’re kind of scaring me here, Taehyung,” you tell him, at which his lips part and he clears his throat, averting his eyes. “What’s wrong?”

“Hyeonju,” he finally replies, his voice so soft it’s barely audible above the rain outside.

You’re taken aback, eyebrows shooting up. “Was he reactivated or something?”

He quickly shakes his head, small droplets of rain splattering against your skin. “No, he’s still gone, I just –” He pauses once more, blinking before he continues. “When they shot him, back at Lee’s apartment, he was looking right at me, and I…” Lifting his eyes to yours, he takes a breath, though he appears stiff. “He looked so scared.”

“But that’s just a software glitch, you said it yourself,” you return, noticing the way his face twitches at your words.

“I’m not sure it’s just a glitch anymore,” he says, eyebrows furrowing as he looks at you.

You lean back slightly, lips parted, though the words don’t quite process with you just yet. “Wh– what? What do you mean?” You can feel your heart start to beat faster when he doesn’t lighten up, simply averting his eyes once more to stare at the wall behind you instead.

“It doesn’t even make sense,” he mutters, shaking his head slowly. Your frown only deepens at that. “I just… when I saw him die, I imagined what it would be like to die in his place.” He blinks, looks back at you, only making your heart beat faster. “And I was scared, too. I _felt_ scared.”

You let out a sharp breath, staring at him as you both fall silent. You’re confused, speechless, wondering if this is some weird dream that you’ll wake up from in a few seconds. But when you look at him, it all feels too real. The details of his face are too imperfect, his eyes too stormy.

“What can I do?” you ask finally. Softly, breathlessly. “Should I call CyberLife?”

He quickly shakes his head. “No, no, that’s not necessary. I could go there myself if I needed to.”

“Then why are you here?” you inquire before you realise what you’re blurting out.

He hesitates, blinking for a moment, frowning to himself. “When faced with emotional turmoil, humans usually seek out the support and reassurance of people they love and trust,” he starts, eyes never once leaving yours. His voice is a low hum in your ears, replacing the rain that has now slowed down to a pitter-patter. A drop of what you assume to be rain escapes from the corner of his eye when he blinks, rolling down his cheek under the yellow light of his LED before hanging on to his chin for a second, then falling off.

“You reassure me, Y/N.”

Your heart skips a beat and a shiver runs down your spine. It seems you completely lose your ability to speak even a single word – what do you say to that? What do you even say, period? How do you comfort an android you’ve never had to comfort before, one who isn’t even supposed to _need_ comfort?

Letting out a breath, you do the only thing that comes to mind, the one thing you hope will reassure him more than words – you reach out and hug him. He stiffens for a second, though soon puts his own arms around you, his warm hands resting on your back.

“We’ll figure it out,” you mutter, even though you have no idea what the hell this means, or what the hell you’re supposed to do to even ‘figure it out’. All you know is that Taehyung looks more human than you’ve ever seen him – and so, you simply tighten your arms around him as he buries his face into your shoulder.

“How?” he mutters into your clothes, his voice soft and breathy. Your heart sinks, even more so when you feel him grip the fabric of the work blouse you’re still wearing just a little tighter.

 _I don’t know._ “We’ll find a way,” you tell him, nodding to yourself. Taehyung has helped you more times than you can count, and you’ve grown to see him as more than just the android he’s supposed to be – you refuse to leave him to deal with whatever is happening to him on his own.

You run a hand through his wet but soft hair, and you swear you can hear him let out a small sigh, that you can feel his shoulders untensing. The rain slows down even more and eventually stops completely, but you don’t let go.

“We’ll figure it out, Taehyung,” you insist yet again, your soft voice feeling like a burst of thunder cutting through the heavy silence. “I promise.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you so much for reading, I hope you liked it!! I’ve really liked writing it :) I’m really curious to hear what you thought of it, so let me know, I’d love to hear from you! Again, thank you so much for reading, and I hope you have a great day/night wherever you are!♥♥♥


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